Third time’s the charmHenderson County to hold liquor option
election for Payne Springs Nov. 3
By Pearl Cantrell
Monitor Staff Writer
ATHENS–For the third time, a petition submitted by a Payne Springs
resident calls on Henderson County to conduct a local option election
for the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-premise consumption.
Even though the measure has been defeated by a majority of the voters in
Payne Springs twice, the commissioners are obligated by law to hold a
vote at the next uniform election date – the Nov. 3 general election.
“The petitioner has met all the legal requirements, and it’s been a year
since the issue was put before the voters,” elections administrator
Denise Hernandez told commissioners during Tuesday’s meeting.
The petition has 70 verified signatures, more than the 56 required. Two
notices have been printed in the paper, although the rules only require
one newspaper notification, Hernandez elaborated.
“This is the third attempt at this measure,” Precinct 2 Commissioner
Wade McKinney noted. (Payne Springs is located in his precinct.) “We’re
obligated to do the election at our expense.”
“We’ll be running the constitutional amendment election at that time,”
Hernandez said. “This will be included with that, using the same
equipment.”
The petition was submitted by Marie McDonald. The measure was last
defeated during the May, 2008, election, it was noted.
Commissioners agreed to call the election, 4-1, with Precinct 1
Commissioner Joe Hall abstaining. Hall had expressed during an earlier
local option liquor election vote, that he couldn’t vote for one, on
moral grounds.
In other business, commissioners:
• adopted revisions to the county’s purchasing policy, including
changing the amount from $25,000 to $50,000 throughout the policy,
changing requirements for written solicitations to allow the Purchasing
Department to determine the appropriate method, and specifying that all
inventory transfers between departments be approved by the
Commissioners’ Court.
• authorized Precinct 4 Commissioner Jerry West to assist Poynor with
specific road improvements.
• paid bills totaling $151,485.37.

Polishing the precision

Monitor Photos/Kerry Yancey
ABOVE: Dancers with the Colts Drum & Bugle Corps of Dubuque, Iowa,
gather
for a formation as they practice in Mabank’s Panther Stadium Monday.
BELOW:
Bugle Corps members move sideways as they march in formation on Panther
Stadium's artificial turf. The 140-member corps is on a 15,000-mile
multi-state
tour, winding up at the annual Drum Corps International world
championships
at Indianapolis, Ind., Aug. 5-9. The corps had a competition in San
Antonio Saturday,
and were hosted by Mabank band boosters Sunday night. Monday was a
rehearsal day
before moving on to a competition at Van Buren, Ark. Begun in 1963 as
the all-male
Junior Dukes, sponsored by the American Legion of Dubuque, the Colts are
made
up of youths age 15-21 and are currently ranked 13th in the world.

Sheriff reports 10 drug lab busts, property
recoveredMonitor Staff Reports
ATHENS–During the first six months of new Henderson County Sheriff Ray
Nutt’s first term, the sheriff’s office busted 10 methamphetamine labs,
seized more than 10 pounds of meth, made nearly 1,000 arrests and
recovered more than $112,000 in stolen property.
Nutt issued a statistical report Monday showing sheriff’s office
activity from Jan. 1 through June 30.
According to the report, deputies answered 11,434 calls, while the
office received 24,404 emergency 911 calls during the first half of the
year.
Deputies made 953 arrests. Some 609 cases were forwarded to
investigators, who cleared 208 cases.
Deputies seized 4,677.25 grams of methamphetamine, 171.25 grams of
cocaine and 2,393 grams (more than five pounds) of marijuana, as well as
308 marijuana plants.
The report estimates the street value of drugs seized at $808,570, and
deputies also seized $33,354 in cash.
During the first six months of the year, the county jail held an average
of 303 inmates each day, including 19 awaiting transportation to the
Texas Department of Criminal Justice and 30 out-of-county inmates.
There were 2,689 admissions to the jail and 2, 578 releases.
Deputies served 1,879 warrants during the period, and served 2,150 civil
papers. The department received 2,237 civil documents and collected
nearly $13,400 in civil process fees.